Oxford History of England

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The Oxford History of England is one of the most prominent and acclaimed modern history series, written by many of the then-leading historians of each period.

The series was commissioned by Oxford University Press and edited by Sir George Clark, with the first volume (his own The Later Stuarts, 1660–1714) appearing in 1934. The original aim was to produce 14 volumes, taking the story up to 11:00 p.m. on August 4, 1914, the moment when Britain declared war on Germany. In 1965 a fifteenth volume, taking the story up to 1945 was added, and in the 1980s the first volume was superseded by two separate books. Several of the other volumes have been amended and released in new editions over the years.

Many of the volumes are now considered to be key classic works for their respective periods. In recent years some of the volumes have been released as stand-alone works, and a New Oxford History of Englandhas been commissioned.

[edit] Volumes and authors

The volumes produced are as follows:

• Volume I: Roman Britain and the English Settlements - R. G. Collingwood and J. N. L. Myres (1936)
  • Later replaced by:
  • Volume I A: Roman Britain - Peter Salway (1981)
  • Volume I B: The English Settlements - J. N. L. Myres (1986)
• Volume II: Anglo-Saxon England, c550-1087 - Sir Frank Stenton (1943)
• Volume III: From Doomsday Book to Magna Carta, 1087-1216 - Austin L. Poole (1951)
• Volume IV: The Thirteenth Century, 1216-1307 - Sir Maurice Powicke (1953)
• Volume V: The Fourteenth Century, 1307-1399 - May McKisack (1959)
• Volume VI: The Fifteenth Century, 1399-1485 - E. F. Jacob (1961)
• Volume VII: The Early Tudors, 1485-1558 - J. D. Mackie (1952)
• Volume VIII: The Reign of Elizabeth I, 1558-1603 - J. B. Black (1936)
• Volume IX: The Early Stuarts, 1603-1660 - Godfrey Davies (1937)
• Volume X: The Later Stuarts, 1660-1714 - Sir George Clark (1934)
• Volume XI: The Whig Supremacy - Basil Williams (Second Edition revised by C. H. Stuart 1962)
• Volume XII: The Reign of George III, 1760-1815 - J. Steven Watson (1960
• Volume XIII: The Age of Reform, 1815-1870 - Sir Llewellyn Woodward (1938)
• Volume XIV: England, 1870-1914 - Sir Robert Ensor (1936)
• Volume XV: English History, 1914-1945 - A.J.P. Taylor (1965)

Several volumes were subsequently revised by the authors to take into account later research.

[edit] The use of the term 'England'

When the series was commissioned:

'England' was still an all-embracing word. It mean indiscriminately England and Wales; Great Britain; the United Kingdom; and even the British Empire. (A.J.P. Taylor, Volume XV: English History, 1914-1945, page v)

Since then there has been a trend in history to restrict the use of the term "England" to the state that existed pre 1707 and to the geographic area it covered and people it contained in the period thereafter. The different authors interpreted "English History" differently, with Taylor opting to write the history of the English people, including the people of Wales, Scotland, Ireland, Empire and Commonwealth where they shared a history with England, but ignoring them where they did not. Other authors opted to treat non-English matters within their remit.